Book Cover of Curiosities of the Sky

Curiosities of the Sky

by Garrett P. Serviss

Is there intelligent life on Mars? Why are there starless gaps in the Milky Way? What creates the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights? These and more are the interesting questions that are asked and sought to be answered in the 1909 book, Curiosities of the Sky by Garrett P. Serviss. Garrett Putnam Serviss was an American astronomer and popular sci-fi writer. He believed that science should be understood and enjoyed by everyone, not just by scientists. Though he was trained as a lawyer, he went to work as a newspaper reporter with The New York Sun in 1867. Here he discovered that he had an innate talent for explaining and describing scientific matter in a way that made it accessible to the ordinary public. Andrew Carnegie was struck by the talent of the young reporter and invited him to deliver a series of lectures on different subjects like cosmology, geology, astronomy and other such topics. Carnegie funded a country wide lecture tour and supplied Serviss with magic lantern slides and material to supplement his talks and make them more interesting. After the two year long lecture tour, Serviss decided to dedicate his life to the cause of popularizing science.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1909

Authors

Garrett P. Serviss image

Garrett P. Serviss

United States

Garrett Putnam Serviss was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. Serviss was born in Sharon Springs, New York and majored in science at Cornell University...

Books by Garrett P. Serviss

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240 Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology Papers 34-44 on Science and Technology Cover image

Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240 Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology Papers 34-44 on Science and Technology by Various

This volume, published as Bulletin 240 of the Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum, compiles a collection of papers exploring vario...

Stories of Starland Cover image

Stories of Starland by Mary Proctor

Have you ever dreamed of traveling to the stars? Stories of Starland by Mary Proctor is a collection of enchanting tales that will transport you to t...

Through Magic Glasses and Other Lectures Cover image

Through Magic Glasses and Other Lectures by Arabella B. Buckley

This book is a collection of lectures on various scientific topics, including the use of optical instruments such as microscopes and telescopes. It is...

Gauss zum Gedächtnis Cover image

Gauss zum Gedächtnis by Wolfgang Sartorius Freiherr von Waltershausen

This book, written by Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen, is a biographical account of the life and work of Carl Friedrich Gauss, one of the most in...

Warrior of Two Worlds Cover image

Warrior of Two Worlds by Manly Wade Wellman

"He was the man of two planets, drawn through the blackness of space to save a nation from ruthless invaders. He was Yandro, the Stranger of the Proph...

Little Masterpieces of Science - The Skies and The Earth Cover image

Little Masterpieces of Science - The Skies and The Earth by George Iles

It explores the wonders of the natural world. Published in 1902, the book is part of a series of "Little Masterpieces" that aimed to bring science and...

Practical Talks by an Astronomer Cover image

Practical Talks by an Astronomer by Harold Jacoby

The present volume has not been designed as a systematic treatise on astronomy. There are many excellent books of that kind, suitable for serious stud...

Outline of Science, Vol 1 Cover image

Outline of Science, Vol 1 by J. Arthur Thomson

The Outline of Science, Volume 1 was written specifically with the man-on-the-street in mind as the target audience. Covering scientific subjects rang...

Pioneers of Science  Cover image

Pioneers of Science by Oliver Lodge

This book takes its origin in a course of lectures on the history and progress of Astronomy arranged for Sir Oliver Lodge in the year 1887. The first...

One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe Cover image

One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe by William Carpenter

Published in 1886, "One Hundred Proofs that the Earth Is Not a Globe" by William Carpenter presents a collection of arguments against the widely accep...

Reviews for Curiosities of the Sky

No reviews posted or approved, yet...